Least Recognisable Best Musical Winners?

[Jay94]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 5:14am

or the least well known that have won?

Redhead
Fiorello!
Hallelujah, Baby!
Applause
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Raisin
Passion

Maybes:
Kismet
Drood
City of Angels
The Will Rogers' Follies
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Fosse
Contact
Thoroughly Modern Millie

???

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 5:23am

Least recognizable to whom? People under 25?

Your "maybe" list is enitrely off-base.

[tazber]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 6:13am

With the possible exception of Redhead every one of those are very well known. And Redhead is debatable.

I think you need to clarify your criteria:

Do you mean least revived?
Least known to non-theater enthusiasts?

[Jay94]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 6:21am

Non-theatre enthusiasts, the average person who has a general knowledge of musical theatre.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 6:27am

Non-theatre enthusiasts haven't heard of most of the Tony-winning shows in the past 30 years.

Avenue Q
Will Rogers Follies
City of Angels
Contact
... and on an on.


They probably only know Cats, Phantom, Les Miz, Book of Mormon (only because it's new, the cast album hit the pop charts, and it's by the South Park guys), and ... I think I just ran out of titles.


EDIT: I will add they've heard of Chicago and Wicked, too, but neither of them won Best Musical.

Updated On: 5/17/12 at 06:27 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 6:36am

They know Mamma Mia, too -- but again, because of longevity.


MOST people, know very little of b'way -- because to most (even those that enjoy it) don't have access to NY on any regular basis.

If you didn't have access to books (for whatever reason) would you keep up on what gets published? Even most kids that are involved only know what shows they've done, and what tours through their city and whatever they see on the Tony Awards.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 6:41am

I would also say that the Tony Award means less and less in NY to tourists. They see whatever show they've heard of with whatever star they've heard of. If you tell them it won Tonys or it didn't win Tonys, they don't really care.

But if their Aunt Jessica and her friends saw Mamma Mia or Wicked and loved it, they'll go. Tonys? Who cares?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 6:49am

Totally agree...but I was referring to HS theater geeks (and I mean that word with love). But they also only pay attention to current B'way.

Even most of my theater kids don't spend time finding out what's out there...they wait until it comes to them.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 7:41am

MOST people, know very little of b'way -- because to most (even those that enjoy it) don't have access to NY on any regular basis.


While that is true there are those that live in the outer boroughs that have no idea of what's playing on Broadway, except maybe those shows with really big names attached to them or those heavily advertised on television. If they are not into theater they wouldn't know nor do they care. Broadway to them is a whole other planet as far as they are concerned.



Updated On: 5/17/12 at 07:41 AM

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 8:37am

"I would also say that the Tony Award means less and less in NY to tourists."

While I would agree to some extent, it also sure doesn't hurt a show to be able to say "Best Musical" in its advertising. I can't help but feel that Memphis would not have had the same longevity without that extra pull from being the "Best Musical."

[showchoirguy]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 9:39am

Dramamama, I will defintely agree with you in some case, but I also disagree coming from my case. A huge group of my friends who live in New York always talk about the new, but a lot of the old as well. My friend's favorite musical is The Apple Tree and I would say thats a very unrecognizable musical to most. In fact, I'm going to see Harvey ( my all time favorite play ) this weekend.

[castlestreet]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 9:55am

I think "Best Musical" means a little to those from outside of the city and the theater community... that being said- for most people coming in who are not big into theater, they want to either see a star, a show that has name recognition, or the show that is currently the hardest to get tickets to, because that, in their minds, must be the best show on Broadway right now.

Its kind of a mix of those things- just sit in any tourist trap restaurant in Times Square and listen to what people are talking about related to what shows they are seeing, or talk to the people next to you in the theater (my favorite thing to do) and ask them why they are seeing the show they are seeing that night. Most often I am told from folks from outside of the city that they are seeing that show because of A) the star of the show, or B) they were told this was the show that is the hardest show to get tickets to, so it must be good

[Playbilly]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 10:15am

If it hasn't been made into a movie, most people haven't heard of the musical.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 1:11pm

Looking over your list....

Redhead - seldom seen or heard since 1960. It was built around Gwen Verdon's talents, and based on the cast album not terribly well built.

Fiorello! - sometimes done in community theaters but to most people today, LaGuardia s an airport, not a former NYC mayor.

Hallelujah, Baby! - it had already closed as a failure when it won

Applause - Had a bit of life in community theatres in the 70s but now is forgotten.

Two Gentlemen of Verona - The Shakespeare play is much more common but they did revive this in central Parka few summers ago but I don't recall much demand for a "Broadway transfer."

Raisin - RAISIN IN THE SUN is still done often, but the musical is ignored. The score is not terribly strong. Maybe the success of CLYBOURNE PARK will inspire an Encores concert version?


Passion - Isn't this being revived next season? Though it is far from being Sondheim's most popular musical, it has its fans adn still shows up in regional theatres from time to time.

Maybes:

Kismet - Still done by community groups - especially those who still have ties to operettas.

Drood - Still done sometimes and the recent PBS series based on the book may inspire more. The cast album is out-of-print which may be why it gets overlooked.


City of Angels - was done often for a while but the tech demands are daunting for smaller theatre companies.


The Will Rogers' Follies - We had a couple of community theatre groups stage this a few years back but it isn't a show that works without the lavish sets and costumes of the original.
Kiss of the Spider Woman

Fosse - I don't know if the rights to this show are generally available? We have had a few community groups put on their own FOSSE tribute shows but it really is just an excuse to put a "greatest hits on Broadway" type evening together.

Contact - NOT a musical. It's a dance piece, and possibly unavailable to do?

Thoroughly Modern Millie - This has been popular with some of our Community groups looking for a frothy 20-s style piece. It's not a great show and without Broadway caliber production values can go quite flat.

Add to your list JEROME ROBBINS' BROADWAY - not that the rights are available anyhow, but it was another "greatest hits" compilation and in a stronger season would not have won.

Also THE WIZ is rarely seen these days. Maybe the movie killed it?

On another note I do wish CATS an SUNSET BLVD were crossed off community theatre group lists. They generally don't have the performers or tech abilities to make these shows work.

Updated On: 5/17/12 at 01:11 PM

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 1:26pm

I think that the only thing that makes them less known or recognizable is the fact that they either have not been revived or have been revived very infrequently. Simple as that. So take Fiorello, for example (1959 I think off the top of my head). Since it's never been revived, it's obviously not as recognizable as say, Gypsy, but substantively, that says nothing. To those who know anything about musicals, they'll recall that it was only one of a very few musicals to have won the Pulitzer for Best Drama.

[Jon]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 1:55pm

KISMET was a major MGM musical with Howard Keel. "Stranger in Paradise" became a pop standard. Most everyone over the age of 60 has at least heard of KISMET.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 2:12pm

KISMET was also done on TV in the early 1970s, starring Barbara "I Dream of Jeannie" Eden.

It used to be one of the oft-performed war horses of stock, like KISS ME, KATE or GUYS AND DOLLS. The 1978 Broadway revival was renamed TIMBUKTU!

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 2:58pm

Encores! did a revival of KISMET several years ago with Brian Stokes Mitchell and Marin Mazzie that was a delight. Can't remember offhand who playled the Caliph but as I recall, it was someone who's gone on the bigger things. Matthew Morrison? Drawing a blank here.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 3:01pm

I saw REDHEAD without Gwen Verdon in summer stock some years ago and, I can assure you, it -- the material itself --was AWFUL. The only competition it had that year was Flower Drum Song, another so-so show, but infinitely better material than REDHEAD.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 3:06pm

Per the link below, Danny Gurwin played the Caliph for Encores.

LA Reprise revived it earlier in the decade, starring Len Cariou. He was fine, but that production only confirmed my opinion that the show is dated and dull (unless one has a fetish for Borodin). This is just my personal opinion, obviously, as the show was a major hit, on Broadway, on tour and in stock.


http://www.theaterscene.net/ts%5Carticles.nsf/(AlphaC)/6CD525CE537CAD7C8525711B00443BFF?OpenDocument

Updated On: 5/17/12 at 03:06 PM